Jim FisherThe Best Monitors for Photo EditingLong gone are the darkroom days. Whether you're a pro or a hobbyist, here's what you need if you're using your display for photo manipulation.

There are all types of monitors, from the bargain-basement models that are fine for Web browsing and office work, to those aimed at gamers who care mainly about the highest refresh rate for smooth gameplay and the domination of opponents. Photographers and other professionals who are concerned with translating what's on the screen to a print or a photobook with accurate color reproduction have their own set of priorities and wants in an LCD. Here are a few things to look for when buying one.

Color Gamut

Wide-gamut monitors, which lets you select from a palate of over a billion colors, are the cat's meow when it comes to photography. If you're working with a 14-bit or 16-bit RAW file, you'll want to get a display that can show you the subtleties contained within each image you capture. A digital connection, such as DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, HDMI, or DVI, is a must as well. Look for a display with an In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel and least an 8-bit lookup table (LUT); it will be able to pull images from a palate of 16.7 million colors. Moving to a top-end panel with a 10-bit LUT expands that number to more than a billion—generally speaking. To achieve that number, though, you'll need a high-end display designed for photographers, but be prepared to pay premium dollars.

Integrated Calibration Tools

Displays can ship with a calibration tool bundled in, and some even have internal systems that put the calibration sensor right into the display. Most will ship with an external colorimeter that you drape over the monitor to calibrate it—this shows a series of color patches and uses software to create an ICC profile to properly adjust colors. When combined with a separate ICC profile for your printer and paper type, you can use soft proofing tools, like those found in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, on your display to see how your prints will look on paper. If your LCD doesn't ship with a calibration tool, consider getting the X-Rite ColorMunki Display or the Datacolor Spyder5Elite. You'll want to calibrate your monitor at least once every 30 days.

Finish

Matte displays can be calibrated more accurately, and tend to show a truer image when compared with the more popular high-gloss displays, which give colors an oversaturated look. And you won't have to deal with as many reflections.

Hood

Depending on your work environment and just how critical your work is, consider a display with a hood. It will block ambient light that comes at your display from the sides and top, so you've got won't have to worry about light coming in from the window affecting how your display looks at different points in the day. You can find third-party generic hoods for notebooks and for the iMac, but for the best fit, you're better off opting for a display that has a dedicated hood from the manufacturer included or available as an accessory.

Size and Resolution

Go with as big a display as your workspace and budget can afford, and one with an appropriately dense resolution. Remember that a 1,920-by-1,080 monitor is only 2 megapixels—if you're shooting with a 20-megapixel SLR, that's nothing. Thankfully, this will come naturally when looking for one that hits the other features. Most 27-inch models feature a 2,560-by-1,440 resolution, but 4K (3,840-by-2,160) models are now widely available. If you're a Mac user—and most photographers are—the iMac with Retina 5K Display is a solid, all-in-one option in terms of processing power and resolution. Its 27-inch screen has an incredible 5,120-by-2,880 resolution, enough to view a 14.7-megapixel image at full resolution.

You may want to consider a secondary display, regardless of what you choose as your primary LCD. iMac users can load up the majority of Lightroom's tools on the glossy 27-inch display to browse through catalogs and make adjustments, while viewing a full-screen version of the image on which you're working on the second monitor. But I wouldn't go smaller than 24 inches.

Those are the high points—obviously you'll want to read some reviews before investing in a display for your personal photography work or business. Just consider how often you print and how demanding your clients are—these are good guidelines to figure out how much you want to spend on a display. If you're a hobbyist who prints occasionally and shares many photos online, you won't need to spend for a top-end model that a high-end wedding photographer who counts on perfect prints in order to put food on the table needs. Below are our picks for the monitors that are best suited for photography work.

Read More

About the Author

Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off when he borrowed his father's Hasselblad 500C and light meter in 2007. He honed his writing skills at re... See Full Bio

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.